


A Dangerous Game

by SanjiTrash



Category: Manga - Fandom, One Piece, anime - Fandom, zosan - Fandom
Genre: Alcoholism, Barista!Sanji, Corpses, Dectective!Zoro, Depression, F/M, Gen, I am a MASSIVE SLUT for dectective Zoro, M/M, Minor Sexual Assault, Other, death mutilation, drug trafficing, graphic violent descriptions, stabbing with knives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-05-05 16:06:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14622216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SanjiTrash/pseuds/SanjiTrash
Summary: Zoro moves back home to the East Blue District, teaming up with his old police academy buddy Usopp to help with the latest string of serial murders. When the case starts hitting a little too close to home, Zoro finds himself spiraling down and battling the demons in his mind. Lucky for him, an old friend has come back into his life to help him through it. And as annoying as he is, he makes some damn good coffee.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there demons,  
> it's me,  
> ya boi.
> 
> Nah I'm just playing with you guys, how y'all doing? Good? I've been on and off a lot lately. I'm still struggling mentally and my anxiety is getting a lot worse but it has days where it just sits down and it's easier to cope with. I've been watching a lot of Criminal Minds lately and I read a thing were Zoro's real-life job would be a police officer. So I decided to one-up it and go Dectective Roronoa Zoro, sounds sexy doesn't it? I'm a sucker for law enforcement AUs and Stark-Black's newest fic was the push I needed to start working on it. If you haven't read it yet, please do. It gives me emotions that I didn't know I had. 
> 
> Do you guys actually read these things? Cause sometimes when I write in these, I feel like I'm Jerry at the beginning of Seinfeild. What's the deal with airline food??
> 
> Anyway, here's a fic. I promise I'm still working on Passion in Life just like I hit a wall with it but I'm still working on it.
> 
> I do not own One Piece  
> Pls don't sue me Oda

Zoro stirred awake, listening to his alarm blare out on the nightstand for at least the third time this morning. God, he hated mornings but unfortunately, crime doesn’t sleep in and neither should Zoro. He pushes himself up and out of bed, heading toward his bathroom ensuite for a quick shower and a shave. The warm water helped release any tension in his shoulders and the sleep in his eyes and he could feel his body finally waking up. He stepped out to his basin mirror, giving himself a quick shave with his electric shaver and gave his face a quick rub over with moisturizer and stared at his reflection. This is his first time back in the East Blue since he went to the police academy. While this was his first time back in eight years, it hadn’t really changed much. A lot of his friends he grew up with are still here and the ones that moved away like him still come back during the holiday seasons so sometimes, it felt like no time was spent away from each other. Zoro hadn’t told anyone he had moved back yet, he only just finished unpacking his stuff two days ago, but once he got settled into his new precinct he’d organize something. His trousers and tie were sitting on top of the hamper and while he was pulling his pants on, his phone vibrated behind him. Leaving his pants undone and throwing the tie around his neck, he grabbed his phone and read the message as he made his way to the living area.

_Usopp: hey dude, just making sure you’re awake. Remember, we’ve got that meeting with Smoker at 6:45_

He rolled his eyes but smiled fondly at his phone; he was excited to have Usopp as a partner on this case. Since their academy days, Usopp and Zoro were each other’s support network. They were roommates, study buddies, and late night bingers together and completely inspirable. It got to graduation and Zoro decided he needed a change in scenery and headed towards the Red district precinct while Usopp went back to the East. It was a very emotional farewell for both of them but they stayed in touch, sharing stories about being on patrol and late night on-call stories. They even bragged about their promotions, Usopp going into the Gang and Narcotics while Zoro was in Robbery Homicide; and even though half the time they were trying to one-up each other, they were still so supportive.

Smoker was the one who suggested that Usopp get into homicide. While he was doing a fantastic job of keeping drugs off the streets and gang violence down, he knew Usopp wanted a challenge. And since the incident down at Red Line, he knew that Zoro needed to get as far away from there as possible. So he gave Zoro an out, paired him up with Usopp and the two were going to get started on their first case together. Zoro was itching to get started.

_Zoro: yeah yeah, I haven’t been late since my first year and so you know, I’ve been up since 5:30 so you can suck my dick_

_Usopp: as I keep telling you I’m not into that but look at you, getting up before noon I’m like a proud mother :’)_

Zoro put his phone down next to his badge and gun to grab his shirt that he thoughtfully ironed last night, which he had never done in his life. Throwing it on and tucking it into his pants, he swiftly did up the buttons and started on his tie. Smoker was old school, hard ass pencil pusher at times (according to Usopp) but he was also highly respected among all the precincts. Hell even Zoro’s old boss respected him, so first impressions were really important. He checked his phone for the time; grabbed his keys, badge and gun, and headed for his car.

_Zoro: relax will you? I’m on my way now; I’ll see you there_

_Usopp: That’s fine, just try not to get lost along the way XP_

_Zoro: ass_

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~ 

Zoro parked his car and grabbed his black coat, which he was thankful he had thrown in the back seat and headed toward the precinct. It was weird, he felt excited and terrified at the same time; his stomach churned and his heart pounded, the adrenaline running through him. He loved this feeling, craved it. It pushed him to stay focused and work harder, knowing that criminals have no idea what’s coming for them until he puts them away. It was simple, follow the rules and you’ll be okay, don’t and you’ll face lady justice. It was black and white, the way Zoro liked it. 

He pushed himself through the front doors, flashing his badge at the receptionist who buzzed him into the back offices and taking the life up to his floor. It was still early morning so there weren’t many people in yet but there were a couple of detectives buried in paperwork at their desks. Zoro didn’t want to introduce himself to his new colleagues yet, so he made a beeline to the coffee machine in the break room hoping that it should help rid some of the sleep still boggling in his brain. Turning the coffeepot on, he opened his email on his phone, reading the summary report on the latest homicide case him and Usopp will be working on.

_Two women and one man, aged between 23-31, found deceased with body parts mutilated. No traces of semen or sexual assault on any of the victims but the latest victim, Laurel Peakes, found with lacerations on her vaginal area and lower abdomen. All were found with their hands behind there back with barbed wire, lying on their side and facing to the right in a dirt hole dug between 3-6 feet near construction sites and parks._

_The family of the victims has been ruled out as all alibies line up and no further leads have been made on the case._

Zoro felt a familiar presence near him as he looked up from his phone, seeing his old roommate and new partner, striding toward the coffeepot and pouring it into two mugs and handing one off to Zoro. He pocketed his phone and looked up at Usopp, sipping his coffee and feeling bitterness dance on his tongue. “You look like shit,” Zoro commented half-heartedly, watching Usopp run his fingers through his hair.

“Shut up, I'm used to going to bed at six not getting up at six. I’ll tell you, narcotics dealers have some weird ass hours,” Usopp groaned, sculling at least half of his coffee in one sitting. “Gangs and suppliers don’t sleep,”

“Well, it’s good to see you can still live off no sleep for hours at a time,” Zoro joked, jerking his head towards Smoker’s office just outside the break room. “Shall we go see our new boss and see what he wants out of us?”

Usopp rolled his eyes. “He’s your new boss, I’ve worked with Smoker for years. But yeah, now that you’re here we should go see the case files,”

“Shut up, I arrived on time,” Zoro scoffed.

“Yeah, today,” Usopp sassed as they made their way to Smoker’s office.

~x~x~x~x~x~

“So three people have been found dead, hands bound in barbed wire and so far, no one in this department can get me any leads on this guy,” Smoker groaned, cigar freshly lit and hanging from his mouth. “Now Usopp has impressed me in narcotics and Hina spoke very highly of you down in the Red District so I want to put you two together to see if you can fix this case. Smoker drops the files on the table, Usopp grabbing one and flicking through the crime scene photos, making a disgusted face at the mutilated corpse.

“Jesus, it looks like she was slashed repeatedly like you can barely recognize her lower body,” Usopp stated, looking over the file. “Any leads or anything?”

“The only solid thing anyone could get is that their time of death is between eleven and one in the morning,” Smoker replied. “Other than that, the M.O is the same; only the latest victim is the only one with severe postmortem injuries,”

“Where was the body found?” Zoro asked, grabbing the file from Usopp.

“Blue street, specifically in the dumpster for Franky’s Bar. One of the busboy’s found it in there when he taking out the last of the garbage at the end of his shift at about four this morning, he’s still in shock and we couldn’t get any answers out of him,” Smoker explained, resting his elbows on the desk. He was about to continue but his office phone rang, answering it quickly. “Hello, Chief Smoker here,”

Usopp and Zoro tried reading his face, seeing if the news was good or bad but it was hard to tell the chief. Usopp nudged Zoro’s arm, pointing into one of the photos in the second victim’s profile.

“That guy is Diamante, I busted him and the crew he worked for five years ago for dealing the Smiley narcotics,” Usopp explained. “His boss and crew are all currently held in Impel, they were kidnapping street kids and using them to help make and deposit the drugs. It was a messy case,” he ended solemnly.

“Jesus, I remember this case. They were trading between here and the Red District. If he’s one of the victims, maybe our unsub is one of those delinquents. Some of them would be adults now,” Zoro theorized, grabbing the file for the latest victim. “But if it was, I feel like he would be the one with postmortem injuries, not this girl,”

“Still can’t rule it out,” Usopp replied, putting the file down and noticing that Smoker had just finished his phone call. “What was that about chief?”

“Grab you things detectives, another body has been discovered,” he ordered. “Tashigi is already down there. She’ll be able to give you more details,”

~x~x~x~x~x~x~

Zoro and Usopp ducked under the police tape and walked over to Tashigi, who was currently taking photos of the latest victim on her phone. There was blood everywhere; in fact there was a massive trail of blood leading to an alleyway between two new cafes 

“The victim's name is Sarah Monet, twenty-six and living in the government housing facilities down near the university; she was reported missing by her sister about a month ago when she stopped coming home one day. She worked as an assistant chemist at Vegapunk and other than her sister, she has no other kin,” Tashigi explained, reading off of her phone. She handed Zoro a photo her sister must’ve supplied to the police; she was thin, about six feet tall, straighten light green hair and was wearing big coke, bottle glasses. Zoro looked down at her corpse, wondering how Tashigi was able to identify it was her, because she looked nothing like her photo. She was bone-thin, her head looked like it was smashed in with a pipe, the skin around her wrists were red and raw probably from the barbed wire that she was bound with and like the last victim she also carried post mortem injuries. Her back was covered in slashes and stab wounds, there looked close to about fifteen.

“She definitely died painfully,” Tashigi said, no emotion in her voice. “It looked like she was dumped down there first,” she hypothesised, pointing down the alleyway. “But I feel like the killer wanted to put her on show,” 

“He’s getting cocky,” Zoro stated. “He wants us to know that he’s smarter than us, but that’s going to be his downfall,”

“Arrogance usually is,” Tashigi replied, going back to taking photos of the body. “I’ll have the autopsy report ready for you by this afternoon. I got two officers questioning some of the witnesses now,”

“That’s fine, I’m gonna go check out that alleyway,” Zoro said, walking away and letting Tashigi finish up her business before letting the intern take the body away. Usopp had gone and spoken to some of the officers on the scene, he was better at getting information out of people then Zoro was. A lot of colleagues had said that Zoro gave off a very ‘stand-offish’ attitude but he always thought of himself as approachable. He blames his constant death stare he was born with.

He followed the blood trail, noticing that the unsub clearly did not care about the victim as he saw that she was dragged over broken glass and excess gravel. Zoro looked around the area; whatever stuff that was laying around here was probably already picked up for evidence by Zoro always liked double-checking himself, it doesn’t hurt to cover all bases.

He notices a small piece of paper, neatly folded, just off the edge of the blood trail. Something in his gut told him to double check it and his gut has only been wrong once. He bends down to inspect it, flicking it open and finds an ominous symbol sketched in pen on it with a message scribbled on the bottom.

_You’ve been forewarned._

_~~_

_TBC_

 

 


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The case deepens, I don't know I'm bad a summaries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHATS UP MY FAVOURITE SLUTS ITS YA BOI S.T. COMING AT YA CLEOPATRA WITH ANOTHER CHAPTER
> 
> that unintentionally rhymed and I'm a little proud of that.  
> How y'all been? good?  
> That's great.  
> I just finished this and I was too excited to read over it so I'm posting it now cause I got work in like 5 hours so I'll post it when I get home from work. Cause I have to sleep. Anyway have fun and let me know what you think
> 
> I do not own One Piece  
> Pls don't sue me Oda

“’You’ve been forewarned?’ What the fuck is that suppose to mean?” Usopp read over the small note.

“Don’t know, but I think it might be linked with the murders. Otherwise it’s a super weird coincidence,” Zoro dropped the plastic zip-lock bag back onto his desk. “Just this symbol is odd, you ever see it doing any gang cases?”

“No... At least I don’t think so. New gangs show up every so often but I don’t feel like this is gang related,” Usopp sat down at his desk, facing Zoro and folding his hands behind his head. “This feels like a serial case, with common themes and the killings being in such a close span of time-“

“You think we have a serial killer?” Zoro snapped his head up from the evidence. “This isn’t an episode of Criminal Minds Usopp, you got to take this seriously man,”

“I am being serious, if another body shows up in the same way at around the same time, all signs point to a serial killer,” Usopp explained, pulling one of the files out of his desk drawer. “Two is coincidence, three is a pattern and four just confirms it,”

As much as Zoro hates to admit it, Usopp was right. It’s annoying that his first case back in his hometown might be a serial killer case but he couldn’t really complain about something that was out of his control. Usopp seemed to sense Zoro’s distress. “Hey, how about I take you out for lunch? It’s my treat,”

“Lunch? It’s ten-thirty,” Zoro replied, nodding his head in the general direction of the clock on the wall.

“Yeah well I’m hungry and if I know you, you haven’t eaten breakfast yet,” Usopp got up from his seat, grabbing his phone and wallet off the desk before pulling Zoro by the back of the collar. “Come on, I know a place you haven’t been to at all,”

“Alright I’m coming! Jesus, how does Kaya put up with you?” Zoro complained, angrily grabbing his stuff and sulking after Usopp.

“She’s a high school art teacher, she’s dealt with worse,” Usopp grinned as Zoro rolled his eyes. “We’ll take the patrol car out, that way we can throw on the sirens and park illegally if we have too,”

 

x~x~x~x~x~x

 

“Huh, so what? Is this like some fancy pants café? You know I hate places like these,” Zoro complained, getting out of the patrol car.

“I got a feeling you’re going to like this place,” Usopp grinned suspiciously, holding the door open for Zoro. 

Zoro observed the inside of the café and he had to admit, it was super nice. It had an off-white laminate floor with exposed wood along the walls; the splash back behind the register was a beautiful teal blue colour with a wooden sign of the café’s name ‘All Blue’ carved in cursive writing and the display case was full of cakes and pastries that looked like they came straight out of a distinguished food magazine.

“Well colour me impressed,” Zoro commented.

“And what colour would that be? Green?” A very familiar voice responded from behind the counter that completely knocked the wind out of Zoro’s chest. He was going to kill Usopp when they got back to the station.

Sanji. He hadn’t thought about Sanji in years, eight to be exact. He was so busy in the Red District that he completely forgot about the people he left behind here. Like sure, him and Usopp talked all the time and Luffy just barges into Zoro’s life at any unexpected moment... But Sanji? He was too scared to keep in contact with Sanji. Every interaction the two seemed to have always felt bitter, they were considered rivals after all. But Zoro sometimes wished they were something more; it’s part of the reason why he left town, he couldn’t think about him and Sanji doing some seriously R-rated things and then have to face him the next day.

But Sanji had changed a bit in the eight years he had been away. His hair was parted over his other eye, the facial hair and goatee that he tried to grow out in high school finally did and suited his face nicely, he was still lean built with a little more muscle definition but his blue eyes were still as beautiful as Zoro remembered. Why couldn’t Sanji have gotten ugly? It would’ve made Zoro’s life a hell of a lot easier.

He was leaning on the counter, blonde hair sweeping gently over his face. “I’m sorry marimo, but we don’t serve any plant food or anything that can be photosynthesised,”

“Really? Eight years and you still only have marimo as an insult?” Zoro quipped, moving toward the serving counter where Sanji was leaning.

“Why would I change it? It’s a classic,” Sanji smirked, resting his chin in his hand.

The vain in Zoro’s forehead popped as he slammed his fists on the counter, glaring at Sanji who still had that smirk on his face. Sanji chuckled lightly. “I have really missed riling you up,”

“You’re such a pain,” Zoro groaned, rubbing his forehead with his palm.

“Okay, now that you two have been reacquainted, I want food,” Usopp said, sitting down at a random table.

“Go sit down marimo, I’ll bring you something out,”

Zoro rolled his eyes as he went to join Usopp at their table. He looked over at Usopp, who was grinning wildly back.

“What?” Zoro asked gruffly. Usopp replied by lowering his head slightly and wiggled his eyebrows. Zoro responded however by kicking Usopp hard in the shin.

“Ow, that was super uncalled for,” Usopp hissed, grabbing his shin tightly.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x

 

“Don’t tell him I think his food is amazing,” Zoro whispered, taking another bite out of his burger.

“Come on Zoro, eight years and your still like this with him?” Usopp groaned. “I’m sure he wants you to bone him just as much as you actually want to bone him,”

“Do you have to phrase it like that? And no way in hell, he’s the ‘illustrious ladies man’ remember?” Zoro whined, throwing his hands in the air making faux air quotes. “He’s probably still wrapped around the finger of that model... What’s her name? Connie? Carol?”

“It’s Conis and nah dude, they broke up years ago,” Usopp replied, biting into his chicken caesar wrap. “He’s been single since then,”

“I still don’t have a chance, I don’t have tits and a tiny waist,” Zoro argued.

“I wouldn’t throw in the towel just yet, I have a feeling you have a chance,” Usopp replied, muffled by the food he was chewing.

“What? Don’t be ridiculous,”

“No I’m serious! He hasn’t dated or even slept with anyone since Conis. And he asks me about you every time we meet up,” Ussop said, dabbing his mouth with his napkin. “He cares about you, he’s just too proud to admit. And so are you,” 

Just as Zoro was about to open his mouth to argue his point, both of their phones vibrated with a message from Smoker.

_‘The busboy from Franky’s is here, he’s ready for an interview’_

Usopp and Zoro both breathed a sigh of relief. “As much as I hate questioning, I’m just glad it’s not another body,"

Usopp nodded and turned toward Sanji who was taking pasteurises out of the oven. “Hey, how much do we owe you?”

“It’s on the house, I can’t let my favourite crime fighter and Zoro go hungry,” Sanji remarked, knowing it would get to Zoro.

Zoro just rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Have fun with your cakes curly-brow,”

“Excuse me?! Curly-brow?!” Sanji exclaimed.

“Yeah, since you wanted to bring back the classic insults then so am I,” he gloated, spinning on his heel to flip Sanji off as they walked out of the door.

As they walked back to the patrol car, Zoro sent a quick text that they were on their way back to the station. He looked back at the café, watching Sanji organise sweets through the window. He wishes he could just... talk to him like a normal person but they just couldn’t with each other. There was always this wall between Sanji and Zoro just wanted to break it down and tell the blonde what he was feeling. Maybe after this case blows over.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Back at the station, Zoro and Usopp were currently standing behind the double-sided mirror, looking into the questioning room. The kid looked maybe fresh nineteen, short pink hair, his skin was pale and he had bags under his eyes. Zoro felt sorry for the kid, it’s why he hates doing questioning. That body he found has probably scarred him for life and especially since it was Laurel Peake’s body. Zoro sighed and turned over to Usopp.

“This seems cruel, I mean the kid is like nineteen and we’re gonna ask him what he remembers about seeing a dead body,”

“I know, I don’t want to do it as much as you do but maybe he noticed something that we didn’t,” Usopp replied, reading over his notes. “Look, I’ll ask the questions and get him feeling comfortable and you just stand in the corner and watch over,”

“Cool, I still get to be bad cop,” Zoro grinned.

“Do not be bad cop in this situation, just try and look understanding and not like you want to murder someone,” Usopp replied, putting his notepad in his pocket.

“I can’t help my natural face,” Zoro mumbled.

“Don’t be an ass about this, lets just get this over with,” Usopp groaned, pushing the door open into the questioning room. 

The kid almost jumped out of his skin when Usopp and Zoro walked through the door. He seemed terrified but who wouldn’t be if you found a dead body in your work dumpster. Zoro leant on the wall by the questioning table and folded his arms while Usopp went and sat down in front of the kid, spinning the chair around and sitting on it backward.

“Hey there, I’m detective Usopp Syrup and behind me is detective Zoro Roronoa. We just want to ask you some general questions about the body you found at your workplace. Can you do that for us?”

 

Usopp was always weirdly good at this. He had a calming, natural tone to his voice that let anyone he was talking to know that he could be trusted. He was especially good with getting information out of young kids and teenagers. While this kid was a little older, he’s still too young to be finding dead bodies. The kid nodded vigorously, obviously wanting to get this over and done with as soon as possible. “Look I’ll answer whatever you want but I’m... still kind of freaked out about it,”

“And that’s understandable, no one wants to find a dead body in any situation. But you coming here today is a big help,” Usopp replied, keeping his voice smooth and calm.

“Anything you remember, even if you think it’s small, could help us out with this case so don’t feel like anything you remember is stupid, it could help us catch this guy,” Zoro added on, following Usopp lead. The kid seemed to relax a little.

“Um... okay so I was closing up the bar late, there was a private function for some company there and they left behind this massive mess so me and my co worker Helmeppo, were cleaning up function room. We were the only two left there to close up the bar and we really just wanted to go home so I told Helmeppo to start washing the glasses and while I took out the trash,” the kid started, voice kind of shaken.

“Okay at that time, did you notice anything odd or suspicious?” Usopp asked, taking notes in his notebook.

“To be honest, I wasn’t really paying attention to anything. I kind of wanted to go home. The people in that function were kind of assholes so at that time I just wanted to leave,” the kid replied, taking a deep breath. “I took all three bags of garbage out at one time cause I thought that would be faster so when I took it out and threw it into the dumpster but the dumpster wouldn’t close properly,” he stopped momentarily to take a deep breath.

“Easy kid, take your time,” Zoro soothed, letting the kid have a breather. He ran a hand through his hair.

“I- I jumped into the dumpster to see if I could squash it down, and when I did I felt like I stood on something soft and when I looked down-“ he started breaking out into a sob. Usopp stopped writing on his notes and gave him some space.

“Do you want to take a break?” Usopp asked.

“No, no I can do this,” the kid sobbed. “I called out for Helmeppo and when he finally came outside and saw-“ he broke down again but he wanted to push through. “I didn’t know what to do so I called my boss first and told him what happened. He told me that he was on his way and that I call the police straight away,”

“Okay, that’s good. What happened after that?” Zoro asked.

The kid broke down into a heavy sob, Zoro felt bad for making him relive the experience.

“Well I just- while I waited for the police I went looking around and I found this folded up on the ground,” he pulled something out of his jacket pocket and gave it to Usopp. 

Zoro moved over behind him to see what it was and as soon as Usopp opened the folded piece of paper, Zoro knew for sure that they had a serial killer on their hands.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x

 

They wrapped up their questioning, gave the kid their number and let him know if he remembered anything else to give them a call. They escorted him out, to where a blue-haired, burly man was waiting in the lobby.

“Zoro-bro, it’s been a while,” Franky greeted, putting his hand out to shake Zoro’s. “I’m just sorry it has to be under these circumstances,”

Zoro shrugged. “It’s fine, and thanks again for letting us question that kid,”

“Yeah, that scene was eating Koby up inside. He felt bad that he couldn’t do anything on the night,” Franky sighed, folding his arms across his chest. “You know, I’m glad it’s you and Usopp on this case. I feel a lot safer you know?”

“We appreciate it but we haven’t caught the guy yet,” Zoro said, walking with Franky toward the exit.

“Yeah but I trust you guys,” Franky replied, pushing the exit door open and stopping to turn back to Zoro. “You should come by the bar sometime, we’ve done some renovations since the last time you were in town but the vibe is just the same,”

“I promise, any chance I get some time off I’ll come by,” Zoro chuckled.

He watched Franky get into his truck and drive off with a distressed Koby in the front seat before heading back to his desk upstairs. He planted himself in his seat and looked over the new evidence that Koby had given him. Another note with the ‘you have been forewarned’ written on it. Zoro put his head in his hands and sighed. He hated serial cases; they are either a hit and they catch the bad guy or it’s a miss and the guy gets away and the case goes cold. Zoro, unfortunately, knows that feeling all too well, It’s part of why he wanted to join law enforcement in the first place.

Usopp sat down at his desk, looking over the files that Tashigi had left for him and Zoro. “I think tomorrow morning we should check out Monet’s sister, see if we can get some information about what happened before she disappeared,”

“Sounds good, I’m going to get Johnny downstairs to book us an interview with that Doflamingo guy. See if he knew anything about Diamante before he was murdered,” Zoro replied, signing off on his paperwork.

“Sounds like a plan. You did good back in that interview too, nice work following my lead,” Usopp complemented, organising the new files on his desk.

“Hey it’s easy when it’s you, I can’t wait until we do the good cop bad cop routine,” Zoro grinned.

“Yeah, yeah I know. You get enjoyment from criminals being terrified of you,” Usopp chuckled.

“I get enjoyment out of bad guys knowing the fear of facing consequences,” Zoro states matter of factly. “Them being scared of me is a bonus,”

Usopp rolls his eyes and they continue signing off their paperwork in silence. Zoro was super excited to be working with Usopp, he couldn’t remember the last time he had this much good chemistry with any of his past partners, well maybe Jinbei back in Red District but Usopp was different. Zoro seemed to pick up on whatever flow Usopp was going with and they could both read each other’s moves and make a move when necessary. Zoro liked that. The only downfall is that Usopp knows everything about him from his crush on Sanji to the real reason as to why Zoro hates serial killer cases. But Usopp hadn’t mentioned anything yet, which relieved Zoro slightly but he knew if this case continued down this path, Usopp would start coddling him. He didn’t need that right now; right now, they needed to find this guy before anyone else gets hurt.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Zoro finally made it home, at around eight. He was starving, but he couldn’t be bothered cooking anything so he decided to just make a protein shake. He placed the shake on the counter; taking off his work shirt and unbuttoning the buttons on his pants, letting them hang loosely on his hips. As he was shaking the bottle, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Confused, he fished it out and read the message.

_Unknown: hey mosshead, stop by All Blue before work. I make a mean coffee and I know that savoury muffins are your favourite. I formally open at 6 but if you’re in earlier, I’ll probably be there Ciao_

“Fuck you Sanji,” Zoro said aloud, to no one in particular. “You don’t know me,” He skulled his protein shake down and decided to call it a night. He shook himself out of his pants and went to bed in just his underwear; it was too hot for clothes anyway. Zoro was going to make sure that when he went to All Blue the next morning, he was going to give Sanji a piece of his mind.

 

_TBC_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *peeks head out from the trash can I currently reside in*  
> Like, comment and subscribe and let me know what you think
> 
> Lots of Love,  
> S.T <3
> 
> *goes back inside trash can*


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Good old fashion Zoro/Usopp banter where we realise that Zoro is a salty bitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back, back again  
> ST's back, tell a friend.
> 
> This chapter is longer cause I kind of felt bad that it took me so long to get it up (hehe) but yeah, depression sucks dick. It's like you just want your brain for like 10 seconds to just stop... and then it doesn't. And it get's kind of frustrating. But I could go into detail about my problems but you're not here for that, you are here for the Zosan and dumbass, hot cop Zoro and Sassy barista Sanji and the scandals, so many scandals and murder.
> 
> I am putting in a warning here, it's very minor but there is some reference to human trafficking and children being 'auctioned' like you know on Sabaody? Like that so read at your own risk but anyway here's the fic, I'll edit it properly in the morning. It's like 1:30am here so YAY!
> 
> I do not own One Piece  
> Pls do not sue me Oda

_It was a little after midnight when Laki left her boyfriend’s apartment, texting her roommate that she would be home in about ten minutes; the last bus back was at eleven-fifty but their share house was only a couple of blocks away, she could walk it. She put her headphones in, listening to some metal band from the early 2000s that Wiper recommended, and continued walking down the main street. They lived in a fairly nice neighborhood so Laki wasn’t too worried about walking back, she done it a thousand times before anyway._

_A lot of the bars she walked past were still open, it was a Friday night after all, but it helped light up the street a little more. She got a text back from Bonnie, telling her that she was going to bed and that they’d talk about her date in the morning and replied with a ‘thumbs up’ emoji before pocketing her phone again. She felt a cool breeze move through her dark hair, a nice relief from the summer heat the town was experiencing. It didn’t help that she was wearing Wiper’s hoodie but she saw it as a comfort blanket, she couldn’t wait for winter to come back where she could wear hoodies and jeans without dying of heat stroke._

_She came across the alleyway she used as a shortcut on numerous, turning down it and watching the alley cats scatter up the fire exits and into the dumpsters. It made her chuckle lightly, almost not noticing her phone vibrate in her pocket again. She stopped walking to read the message from Wiper, saying that he already missed her with the attached picture of him shirtless on his bed, the blanket pooling gently on his hips and showing off his well-sculpted abs. She really wanted to just turn around, sprint back and jump into bed with him but she had worked tomorrow and the subway station is right in front of her house and she knew she would be late if she stayed with him tonight._

_She pulled out one of her headphones, texting him back to stop being a tease and giggled and she saw the three dots bounce on her screen. She was so excited to see what Wiper was going to reply with that she didn’t notice someone making their way down the alleyway, holding what looked like a tire iron and whacking her unconscious._

x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Zoro sat at his desk, super confused and staring at his empty takeaway coffee and his brown paper bag that formally held the most delicious savoury muffin he ever had in his life. Before coming into work, he went and saw Sanji at his café, not for the offer of breakfast but to tell Sanji that he doesn’t need his help, to which the blonde told him to shut up and shoved the coffee and muffin into his hands. Zoro wanted to rage at him for being so considerate but at this point, an older lady walked in and Zoro didn’t want her to witness a well-respected law enforcer yelling at a café owner for caring about his health and well-being. And the worst part was, Zoro didn’t even pay for it. Sanji must be looking so smug at the moment, also how in the hell did Sanji get his number?

 

Usopp dropped down into his chair across from Zoro, looking at him quizzically. “You okay Zoro?”

“Did you give Sanji my number?” Zoro asked, still fixated on the food on his desk.

“Yeah, he said he wanted to tell you something and I didn’t see it as a bad thing,” Usopp shrugged, logging onto his computer to read up on any updates in the case.

Zoro’s head snapped in Usopp’s direction. “You asshole! Why would you do this to me?!”

“Well you wouldn’t give him your number so I did, don’t be such a baby about it,” Usopp replied, ignoring the fact that Zoro was glaring at him.

“This is the worst thing you’ve done to me,” Zoro whined, slamming his head on his desk.

“Oh I’m _so sorry_ I gave the man that _you’re in love with_ your phone number, I’m such a _bad person,_ ” Usopp mocked, rolling his eyes. “Stop being a little bitch and like I said before, you both care about each other but you’re both just too proud to admit it,”

“Oh, and how do you know that? Did he tell you that?” Zoro asked accusingly, folding his arms like a child.

“I don’t need to be told, you’re both idiots and if it was up to me, I would’ve locked you both in a room to sort your issues out ages ago,” Usopp rolled his eyes, grabbing the print out from his desk printer. “Come on, we have to go to the interview Monet’s little sister and go to Impel to interview Doflamingo,”

Zoro nodded, taking his coffee with him to the patrol car. Usopp looked over to Zoro, clicking the button to unlock the car. “By the way, I’m driving. I don’t want an incident like what happened in second year again,”

“I keep telling you, they changed the name of the streets! That’s not my fault!” Zoro complained, grumbling something about Usopp being a jackass as he slid into the passenger seat. Usopp jumped into the driver's seat, turning on the engine and ignoring Zoro’s excuses and started their way towards Sarah Monet’s apartment complex.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

“You know, for a government housing facility, this isn’t that bad,” Zoro commented, looking at the double glass front doors leading to the main foyer. “It’s even got a sweet fountain at the front,”

“This complex was built early last year, it’s not even a year old,” Usopp replied. “So we need room 806,”

Zoro pressed the buzzer for the room and the muffled sound of a girl on the other end asked who they were. They flashed their badges at the security camera and heard the sound of the front door unlocking before heading up the elevator.

“Dude that girl sounded like she was twelve,” Zoro commented.

“Well the report says she’s twenty-two unless they have a child living in their house as well,” Usopp said, hearing the ding as they reached their floor and walked over to the room where the ‘Sugar’ girl is supposed to be.

Usopp knocked on the door and a girl, no taller than five-two answered. She had turquoise hair, pink-framed reading glasses and wearing a pink polka-dot dress; she definitely looked like a child. “Morning detectives, I’m Delilah Sugar-Monet,” She introduced herself, sighing solemnly as she let Zoro and Usopp enter her apartment. The living room was simple; a black leather couch with a coffee table and white walls, simple dining table, and kitchenette in the corner of the room. Nothing too out of the ordinary, other than the teddy bear currently de-stuffed and the headless robot toy sitting on the coffee table in the lounge room. “I work in a toy shop, sometimes kids give me their toys to fix for a small fee,” she explained herself, noticing Zoro staring at the toys.

“So we’ll cut to the chase when was the last time you saw your sister?” Usopp asked carefully, taking his place on the single seater next to where Delilah was sitting. Zoro leaned on the wall next to the windowsill, silently observing the room and the girl.

“Ummm... about a month and a bit ago. My sister was known to work late and she even slept at her desk sometimes so I didn’t see it as a big issue but a week past and I was getting no phone calls or texts from her so that’s when I filed the missing person's report,”

“And did you look for her at all during that period?” Usopp pressed, taking out his notebook.

“Well of course I did; I tried at Vegapunk, the university, the park she liked to jog in, everywhere. She just disappeared off the face of the Earth,” she replied, no emotion fixated on her face. Zoro found that weird, they were talking about her dead sister and she was handling her emotions a little too well.

“Right so, what did your sister do for work? You said she stayed back a lot,” Zoro interjected.

“She was a chemist at Vegapunk, the pharmaceutical company. She was working as an assistant to some guy named Ceaser,” she replied, folding her hands in her lap. “I don’t know much about him other than she hated him,”

“Like he was a hardass?” Usopp asked.

“No, like he was a dumbass. She thought he was an egotistical moron,” she replied, looking down at her feet. “We went through some tough times, we were all each other had. Ceaser made her work late on purpose for no other reason than that it would make her upset and she couldn’t argue with him,”

“What was your sister like? if you don’t mind us asking” Usopp asked again, leaning forward a bit.

“To be honest, she could be manipulative if she wanted to be. She was pretty, so she could get guys to do whatever she wanted at the university. But she was also cunning; it’s how she got the job at Vegapunk. I couldn’t do that; I’m more of an observer type,” she started, tucking one of her legs onto the couch. “I just hope she put up a fight,”

Zoro noticed her facial expression change for a moment, looking like what he thought was sadness before going back to that deadpanned expression she always held. They continued questioning her for a bit longer but soon realised they weren’t really going to get anything out about her sister and decided to wrap up the questioning, leaving their card if she remembered anything else and headed back toward the patrol car.

“I have never seen anyone look so calm about her sister’s death,” Ussop commented, taking out his notebook. “The only thing she could give us is that she hated her boss and that’s it! I just don’t understand! Wouldn’t you want to know who killed your sister?”

“Maybe she’s still going through shock; people go through it in different ways. Maybe hers is shutting herself off, you never know,” Zoro replied, leaning against the hood of the car.

“I mean, sure? But I just don’t understand how someone so young can just be so deadpan and blunt about it,” Usopp sighed, opening the car door. He saw Zoro’s face change slightly but didn’t question it, he knew better than that. “Come on, now we get to go interview Doflamingo himself,”

Zoro nodded and jumped in the passenger seat, setting the GPS the directions to Impel Down.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

“Nice to see it’s still so fucking terrifying,” Zoro commented, looking on at the front gates to the prison. “It should’ve been made illegal to build this place down the street from our old high school,”

Usopp snorted and buzzed the telecom to let them inside and once they were, Zoro and Usopp were escorted to the questioning block where that smug bastard was sitting. Even wearing handcuffs that were chained to the table, Donquixote Doflamingo still looked like a sinister bastard. It was actually annoying the hell out of Zoro.

“So what exactly was this guy done for other than selling narcotics?” Zoro asked, flipping open the thick file.

“Oh you know; human trafficking, child abduction, forced child labour, assault and battery, second-degree murder, first-degree murder-“

“Alright, so this guy’s an asshole,” Zoro interjected, noticing Usopp getting angrier as he listed the horrible things that bastard had done.

“Yeah, one of the worst,” Usopp said, grabbing the keycard from one of the guards and flashing it on the gate, letting them into what could only feel like a lions den.

Walking in, Zoro watched the blonde haired man’s face turn from smug to just downright evil. He still had his smug smirk but it felt dark and it gave the detective a cold shiver down his spine. His blonde hair reminded Zoro of cactus spikes and the way he was sitting handcuffed to the table, he still looked like he was in control of the situation.

“Afternoon Usopp, haven’t seen you since I murdered your last partner in cold blood,” he remarked grimly, smirk not leaving his face for a minute. Zoro looked over at his partner and saw that Usopp’s movements stilled momentarily before continuing to sit down in front of the evil man. “Who’s the fresh meat? You know how much I love new toys, thank you so much!”

“Cut the crap Dof, we’re not dealing with your mind games today,” Zoro snapped, slamming his fists down on the table.

All the blonde man did was laugh hysterically. “This one has some spunk, I like him,” Doflamingo sat more comfortably in his chair. “So tell me, what brings two young, stupid pigs like yourself to my new domain?”

“Well you’re in jail for starters dipshit, if it’s anyone’s domain it’s ours” Zoro stated, pushing himself up off the table and throwing down Diamante’s file in front of Usopp. “Secondly, we're here for some information about Michael ‘Diamante’ Tyler. One of your subordinates and one of our recent murder victims; he was found in an alley on the south side of town,”

Dof raised his eyebrow at that. “And what? You think I did it? Because I have a really good alibi for not doing it,” Zoro really wanted to punch his face into his skull.

“We know you didn’t do it, we just want to know some information about him,” Usopp spoke calmly but Zoro could tell that Usopp was angry on the inside. “Like did you know he was being released early on good behaviour?”

Doflamingo’s smirk fell. “We weren’t aware of it until he actually left. That bastard double-crossed us, accused us of everything and sold out all of the info on what we did and only erased himself from the documents. He got what he deserved really,”

“Did you have any powerful enemies? Anyone out to get you personally or your gang?” Usopp asked carefully, opening Doflamingo’s thick file.

The blonde felon rolled his eyes. “No, we were friends with everyone. We held hands and skipped into the drug lab every morning and took turns extorting children,” he said sarcastically, noting that Usopp was slowly starting to lose his cool.

Zoro decided to step in, hands slamming down on the table again and getting close to Dof’s face. “That doesn’t answer the question,” he said menacingly.

Dof locked eyes with Zoro; their intense glaring was slowly making the other guards uncomfortable. Zoro had dealt with a lot of people like him back in the Red District; cocky, stupid and wannabe hardcore. This condescending douchebag was no different, just a little darker.

Doflamingo was the first to break the stare, smiling dangerously. “I really do like you, you’re everything his last partner wasn’t. Tell you what; I’ll cut you a deal. You get me out of psychiatric and into normal solitary and I’ll tell you everything I know about that fucking ratbag,”

“Or you can just tell us the names and I don’t break your skull open,” Zoro threatened. He really did love being the bad cop.

“Your threats don’t work on me boy, I know my rights,” Doflamingo rolled his eyes and leaned forward. “Look if you don’t give me that transfer I’m not telling you anything,”

Just as Zoro was about to make another threat, Usopp interjected. “That’s fine, you have a right to tell us nothing,” he shrugged and turned toward Zoro. “I mean Pica seemed eager to talk to us about his fallen friend so I think we’re wasting our time here really,” Usopp started collecting his paperwork and putting them back into the file. He closed the folder and started to get out of his seat, Zoro started to make his way toward the door before Dof called out.

“All right! Fine!” he sagged in his seat, defeated. “I’ll tell you everything about that fucking backstabbing jackass,”

Usopp and Zoro smirked at each other briefly before heading back to the steel desk.

“Diamante was the one who set up the recruitments; the majority of the kidnappings were set up by him. He thought he could mold children into doing whatever he wanted, said as soon as they reached a certain age they would be too brainwashed to try and fight back. And he was right, kind of,”

Zoro tried to hide his disgust while Usopp pulled out his phone and started recording his confession.

“He was a real bastard but he got the job done so I never questioned it. He was as devious as he was astute, I actually fucking hated him but we were getting noticed and making profits so I let him be the way he was. When he started hosting auctions was when he started making powerful friends and some very serious enemies. He was selling off the kids he didn’t like or the ones who would catch some pervert’s eye for profit. He was a fucking disgusting genius,” Doflamingo took a deep sigh and continued. “The auctions caught a lot of traction, we got a lot of respect among people we didn’t want to be associated but we were making money so I didn’t care,” he smirked.

“So you gonna give us names or not?” Zoro snapped.

“Hold your horses punk; Moriah Gekko helped him organise those auctions. An obnoxious sleazeball that seemed also participated in them as well. While Diamante didn’t tell me jack shit about those auctions, hell I had to find out about nearly everything he did because he framed the rest of us for it, Moriah is your guy to talk to,”

  

x~x~x~x~x~x

 

“I cannot _believe_ that man! He is just the _cruelest, most disgusting_ rodent I have ever had to deal with! Like who the hell does he think he is?!” Usopp vented, trying to concentrate on driving.

“Let it go man; he got into your head sure, but we got a name at least,” Zoro tried to comfort, looking through Doflamingo’s file.

“Yeah, yeah I know, score one for the good guys, but like...” Usopp trailed off and Zoro sensed the change in his mood.

“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll fill out the report, call it a day and head home,” Zoro comforted, closing the file and resting it on his lap. “Cause I really need a nap,”

Usopp nodded thoughtfully at Zoro and pulled up into the free parking space. Zoro looked around confused as to why they weren’t back at the station for a second before his eyes caught the obnoxious, light blue café and turned his glare toward his partner.

“What? I want a coffee,” Usopp shrugged. “You can wait in the car if you want,”

Zoro folded his arms and sulked in the patrol car while Usopp got out and ordered his drink. _‘I’m not getting out of this car cause that asshole is gonna be in there and he’s gonna have those blue eyes and that hair and that smile and he’s probably making something wonderful like a cake, like a loser and making me feel tingly and I HATE HIM SO MUCH!’_ Zoro thought childishly, kicking his feet erratically.

He looked out the window and saw Usopp laughing with Sanji, wanting so desperate to be apart of their humour before realising that meant he would have to leave the car and go talk to Sanji himself and he wasn’t doing that. He’s a prideful man.

Sanji caught Zoro’s stare and offered a small, friendly wave at the stubborn detective, to which Zoro replied by flipping him off and going back to sulking. It felt like hours had passed before Usopp hopped back in the car with a second coffee cup, shoving it in Zoro’s chest.

“You are such an ungrateful ass,” Usopp complained. “Can’t you be civil?”

Zoro didn’t answer, turning his head to stare out the window.

“Zoro,” Usopp coaxed, still not getting a reply out of him.

“Fine, then I won’t tell you that Sanji is going to Franky’s tonight with Luffy and I. You can just sit at home, like a loser with no friends, and sulk about one guy who does generally fucking like you,” Usopp stated sarcastically, watching Zoro raise an eyebrow the reflection of the window. “But if you don’t want to come it’s fine, I can just ask Nami or Vivi to-“

“What time are we meeting?” Zoro interrupted, still sulking but turned to face Usopp.

“Seven, Franky want’s us to try the new burgers from the bistro,” Usopp grinned. “Tell you what, I’ll drop you home so you can pick out a seductive outfit for tonight and I’ll finish off the paperwork in the office,”

Zoro wanted to interject but the car suddenly stopped and he realised that Usopp was parked in his driveway. “I’ll come back for you at six-thirty so don’t be late, okay?”

Zoro opened the passenger side abruptly and slammed it shut, making sure to flip Usopp off as he walked up the driveway.

“Thanks babe! Love you too!” Usopp called out, honking his horn as he drove off back to the precinct.

As Zoro fished his keys out of his coat pocket, that weird tingly feeling was back and resting easy in his stomach and chest. Damn that Usopp, he needed better friends.

_TBC_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH YEAH MORE CHARACTERS GETTING INTRODUCED  
> LOVE IT
> 
> Also, life advice, if you are ever sad like at all, watch Netflix's Queer Eye. Cause nothing got me through some shitty fucking times like 5 gay men telling me I'm worth it.
> 
> https://sanjitrash.tumblr.com/ find me here if you wanna talk to me, i swear im nice and we can be golden trash bags together
> 
> But as always, you've all been beautiful and I love you all,  
> as always,  
> Lots of Love  
> ST <3


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things heat up with the case and DRAMA AND SUSPENSE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh hey~~
> 
> I am like so sorry I've been inactive for ages. Just life got in the way but some pretty cool things happened as well. I went to Oz Comic Con today dressed as my boi Sanji and it was amazingly fun!! I had a blast!! 
> 
> But I do feel awful it takes me forever to put these out but I appreciate every single fucking one of you who reads it and comments and just I love you guys.
> 
> This one is also more Zoro hanging out than Zoro at work being sexy badass detective cause I love Zoro's interactions with his friends. Also with Chopper, I'm picturing him looking like Dr. Spencer Reid but that might be because I've been binge watching criminal minds to get back into writing this.
> 
> But anyway, as much as I love yammering in these things I'll let y'all read the fic cause you're here for that

Zoro heard his phone vibrate from the basin as he got out of the shower, the steam rising into the heat lights. He threw his towel over his shoulders as he grabbed the ringing device, physically wincing at the name on the screen before answering. “Hey Per-“

“ZORO RORONOA!” Zoro had to pull the phone away from his ear before he went deaf. “YOU COME BACK HOME AND YOU DON’T TELL ME? I HAD TO FIND OUT ABOUT IT FROM LUFFY? I THOUGHT WE WERE FAMILY!” His loving sister blared down the phone.

“Sorry, I was going to tell you when I got a day off. I’ve done nothing but work on the new case for the past two days-“

“THAT’S NO EXCUSE!” She interrupted, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I missed you,”

Zoro couldn’t hold back his smile; he really did love his sister. “I miss you too Perona,”

 

He heard her chuckle on the other end, putting her on speakerphone as he made his way back to his bedroom to get changed. “Does dad know I’m back yet?”

“I think he has a feeling, he had dinner with Zeff last night,” She replied, causing Zoro to shudder again. Sanji definitely told Zeff about Zoro being back in town. “Look I know you like to bury yourself in work and all but the last time dad saw you was the accident. Talk to him, I think he deserves to see you again,” she chided, annoying Zoro slightly. He knows it’s Perona’s way of letting him know that they care about him but he doesn’t need the help, really.

“Look, Friday is my day off so I’ll stop by the house then. Promise,” Zoro swore, throwing his towel down on the bed and opening his cupboard up. He rested his phone on top of some storage containers as he rummaged through his clothes for a suitable outfit for tonight. “How’s your business going? Anything fun happening?”

“Business is going great! I am now in charge of twenty artists and designers!” Perona gloated while Zoro pulled out a nice button down and white shirt and threw it on the bed. “We’re actually having an auction soon, you should come!”

“No thanks, I’d rather not hang out with uptight art collectors,” Zoro groaned; pulling a nice pair of tight, black jeans and also throwing it onto the bed.

“Oh come on Zoro! You’ll be on the V.I.P list!” She pleaded, doing her high-pitched whiney voice that she knows Zoro hates. “And I’ll even let you bring a plus-one! Hell, you can bring that blonde guy you’re in love with!”

“I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH SANJI!” Zoro yelled, picking the phone off the storage box and aiming his angry voice into the microphone on the bottom of the phone.

“Yeah, yeah whatever,” Perona dismissed Zoro’s outburst. “By the way, there’s free drinks from the bar for V.I.P’s all night,”

That peaked Zoro’s interest; why didn’t she lead on with that? While Zoro hated the idea of hanging out with those assholes, he could definitely do it for free booze. He sighed heavily. “I’ll think about it, okay?”

He heard the sounds of his sister squealing in excitement and rolled his eyes fondly; he did miss his older sister.

“So what are you doing tonight? Drinking with the boys?” She enquired, as Zoro pulled the button up over his white t-shirt.

“Yeah we’re just having a catch up night with the gang,” he replied, half-tucking his shirt into his jeans. “Dinner and drinks at Franky’s,”

“Ugh, do you guys ever do anything different? There’s like eight new restaurants and bars in the area and you still choose Franky’s?” she groaned.

“If you can find me a place where I can eat steak and drink beer for ten whole dollars, then I’ll eat there,” he argued, trying to find his black vans that he swore was next to his bed. “Besides, I haven’t eaten off their new menu yet,”

He heard her groan dramatically again. “Fine whatever, I’m gonna let you go so you can look fly for Sanji. Love you!”

 

Just as Zoro was about to yell at Perona to mind her own business, the hang up tone rang throughout the room and it left Zoro more riled up then what he was before. He let out a deep groan and checked himself in the mirror; oh yeah, he looked good. His phone vibrated again and checked to see it was Usopp telling him he’d pick him up in ten minutes so he made sure his wallet and badge on him before Usopp arrived.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Being a passenger in Usopp’s SUV was a fucking nightmare according to Zoro. Not only was Usopp only playing really shitty pop songs from the eighties, but also was continually making fun of Zoro’s fashion choice for tonight.

“Trying to impress someone tonight?” Usopp remarked, cocking an eyebrow at Zoro.

Zoro just glared at his loving best friend while Usopp laughed hysterically, pulling into the parking lot behind Franky’s.

As they got out of the car and moved toward the entrance, Zoro slowed down and looked towards the ally behind the bar, where Laurel Peake’s body was found. It’s weird that even though a dead body was found by the dumpster a couple of weeks ago, the place still seemed to be thriving. The car park was nearly full and families and friends could be seen eating dinner through the big, glass windows; Zoro just shrugged it off and caught up with Usopp who was leaning against the brick wall next to the glass double doors, fiddling with his phone.

“You okay?” Usopp asked, pocketing his phone.

Zoro scratched the back of his head. “Just... it’s weird. A body was found here like two weeks ago and people don’t really seem to care,”

Usopp just shrugged. “It’s not their fault a body was found here, just a bad coincidence. And an unsub shouldn’t be the reason that people can’t enjoy a meal,”

Zoro seemed to agree, shrugging slightly. “I mean... I guess?”

“Look dude, take a break from the case. Just enjoy tonight,” Usopp said, pushing the front door open and walking towards the booth seat that currently held Luffy, Ace and Chopper all joking and laughing hysterically. Zoro instantly relaxed, it had felt like the old times where the gang would hang out here for hours. As Zoro walked closer to his friends, Luffy’s eyes lit up and bolted out of his seat and crash tackled Zoro onto the ground. Zoro did try to catch him but Luffy had a lot of power in his tackle; he was a force to be reckoned with when he wanted to be.

“ZORO! YOU’RE HERE!” Luffy screamed into the detective’s ear while Usopp just pointed and laughed at them.

“Dude I’m right here, you literally do not need to yell,” Zoro replied, trying get out of Luffy’s strong hold.

“I know but I’m just so excited to see you!” he beamed, not really making an effort to move off of Zoro. “How was Red District? Was it fun? Did you miss us? What did you eat when you were-“

 

Luffy’s ramblings were cut short by someone kicking him in the shoulder. “Come on Luffy, get off the marimo. He might start growing into the floor like a bad weed,”

“Someone say weed?” Ace interjected from behind the menu. Sanji rolled his eyes as he stepped over Zoro to sit next to the freckled man in the booth.

“You’re a fire fighter, you’re not aloud to be doing psychoactive drugs,” Usopp groaned, pulling Zoro up off the floor.

“Says you,” Ace mutters, folding his arms dismissively.

“Yes says me, I’m a law enforcer,” Usopp replied, slightly annoyed.

“You’re a butt enforcer,” Ace muttered again like a child.

“How were you aloud to be a fire fighter?” Zoro asked, sliding in between Usopp and Chopper, sitting directly in front of the swirly-browed moron.

“Passed the exam,” Ace replied nonchalantly, passing the menu to Zoro. Usopp rolled his eyes and looked over Zoro’s shoulder, reading over the new special’s menu Franky had.

“Ten dollar beer and steak,” Zoro decided, passing the menu over to Usopp.

“Are you serious marimo? You get that every time!” Sanji snapped, glaring intently at the green haired detective.

“Cause its cheap and delicious. And mind your own business swirly,” Zoro retorted.

“Come on guys, no fighting tonight,” Chopper pleaded. “I just want one dinner that doesn’t end in you two screaming at each other,”

 

Zoro couldn’t say no to Chopper, he never could. All he had to do was just look at Zoro with those puppy dog eyes and Zoro would cave in. “I’ll try my best, but if he starts anything I can’t help it,”

Sanji rolled his eyes and went back to talking to Ace and Luffy, who were currently talking about Ace’s latest call out to a big mansion on the outskirts of town. Usopp flagged down the waitress, ordering their food and another round of drinks while Sanji professed his love to the poor young lady. She smiled politely and played along with Sanji’s chivalrous antics but Zoro knew she just wanted to leave. The amount of girls Zoro knew growing up who found Sanji’s, what he calls ‘noodle arms’, annoying was astounding.

 

She left with their order to the kitchen and Zoro decided to kick Sanji’s shin. “You scared her away moron,”

Sanji’s face morphed into a hard glare at the detective, who had a massive, shit-eating grin on his face. Just as Sanji was going to make a remark, Franky appeared at their table, happy to see that Zoro and Usopp had made it out.

 

“Zoro-bro! You’re here!’ Franky beamed, making Zoro uncomfortable. He really didn’t like being single out. “What’d you order?”

“What do you think?” Sanji deadpanned, causing Franky to start laughing.

“Hey man, that’s our most popular item. I don’t judge,” Franky said.

“See? Franky’s on my side,” Zoro commented. “By the way, I want to report Sanji for harassing your poor waitress,”

“I was being polite!” Sanji interjected.

“You were being a creep!” Zoro argued back.

“Hey- hey, I don’t want to have to kick you guys out again, okay?” Franky chastised, waving his finger between Zoro and Sanji who were currently sulking in their seats. “I thought we were past these antics when you guys graduated,”

“He started it,” Zoro grumbled, causing Sanji to roll his eyes dramatically.

 

x~x~x~x~x~

 

Zoro devoured his steak with in ten minutes; crime fighting made him hungry. He was chugging on his third beer of the night while Sanji was getting tipsy on his first glass of wine. Apparently, Ace and Luffy had been here since about four or five, so they had already consumed enough food an alcohol to feed an army and were already in there ‘yelling stage’ of drunk while Chopper was only drinking water. Zoro almost felt bad for Chopper being out of their drinking ritual but he had surgery in the morning and while drunken Chopper was the best, he didn’t want the poor doctor turning up to surgery hung over.

 

While this was all going on, Usopp signalled to Zoro that he was going outside to take a call and that he would be back in a minute. Zoro nodded at him and continued in listening in on Luffy’s latest adventure through Chile, Peru and Ecuador. He was tuning in and out of conversation, watching over the rest of the group and Luffy re-enacted his endeavours. He eyes shifted over slightly to the blonde haired man, who was currently buried in his phone. He looked like he was messaging someone, not that Zoro really cared (really) but it seemed a bit rude to have it out at the table while everyone else wasn’t on their phone.

 

He huffed in annoyance and downed the remainder of his beer, signalling the waitress again for another drink. Zoro’s eyes then shifted over to Ace, who had been staring at Zoro for what seemed like a while due to the shit-eating grin on his face. Zoro rolled his eyes and flipped him off, causing Ace to break out into hysterics. Sanji had looked up from his phone and glared down at Ace, who had elbowed him about six times.

“What’s so funny?” Sanji questioned.

“Nothing,” Ace tried to stifle his laughter but it couldn’t be contained.

“Whatever, I’m going out for a smoke,” Sanji sighed, getting up from his seat and headed out the front, passing Usopp on his way back in.

 

“What’s up?” Zoro asked.

“Nothing, Smoker just wanted an update on the case,” Usopp replied, taking a sip from his beer.

Zoro shrugged at that and continued drinking his beer, occasionally joining conversation with Luffy and Chopper. He turned his head toward the glass doors, where he could see Sanji in leaning against the wall. Something seemed to be worrying him all evening and Zoro wanted to head outside and comfort him. But he knew how Sanji gets with showing his emotions so he’ll leave it for another time.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Sanji came back inside a little while later, his eyes looked red and puffy but if anyone at the table noticed, they didn’t mention it. Sanji slid back in next to Ace, who had fallen asleep in his dessert.

 

The night was winding down, the only real noise coming from the bistro was from the bar area and their own table. Zoro looked at the clock on the back wall, eleven-thirty, _‘Shit’_ he thought. He had work in about nine hours. He rubbed his face and turned to Usopp, who looked like he was close to falling asleep as well.

“We should probably head out, Ace is already asleep in his dessert and we have a meeting with Smoker in the morning,” Zoro suggested, followed by an affirmative grunt from Usopp.

“I’ll take the rugrats and Chopper home, you guys go home and sleep,” Sanji said, elbowing Ace really hard in the ribs.

“Don’t you have to open at like five am?” Zoro asked.

“I’ll be fine, these morons live around the corner from me and Chopper’s going to crash at my place since the hospital is down the street from the café,” Sanji waved off. “Why? You worried about me marimo?”

The devilish smirk that Sanji shot at Zoro was the most annoying and arousing thing that he’d ever laid eyes on. And he wanted to punch the blonde right in the dartboard brow.

 

Just as Zoro was about to yell at Sanji for again, being so considerate of him, Usopp grabbed him by the bicep. “Sanji’s right dude, we need to sleep and you’re already a pain in the ass to get up in the morning,”

Zoro rolled his eyes as he watched partner try and drag him out of the booth, angrily yanking his arm out of Usopp’s clutch and stormed his way toward the exit, followed by Luffy screaming good-bye at him as he pushed through the double-glass doors.

 

The cold air hit Zoro’s face instantly; he nearly forgot how cold it gets at night. The chill had some bite to it, but not enough for Zoro to need a jacket. He was a human furnace anyway; he could walk around in sub-Zero temperatures in a shirt and jeans and be completely fine. It used to annoy the hell out of Sanji when they were in high school because that moron felt the cold in the middle of summer. He chucked at the fond memory of a scrawny, uptight, teenaged Sanji trying to force him to wear warmer clothing. Zoro started doing it on purpose when he found out the blonde got a rise out of it, which is a little cruel but still highly entertaining on Zoro’s end.

 

Usopp walked out, his phone nestled between his shoulder and cheek. “I just have to drop off Zoro and then I’ll be home in five after that,” Ah, the wife. Usopp walked ahead, digging through his pockets for his car keys as Zoro followed behind. “No we can’t stay out late, we have a meeting with Smok-... Yes I know we use to do it all the time at the academy but we’re not like that anymore,”

“Speak for yourself lightweight,” Zoro interjected, causing Usopp to glare at him.

“Don’t laugh at his jab! Him I expect to laugh at me but you’re my wife!” he whined as Zoro could hear the faint sounds of Kaya’s laugh through Usopp’s phone. “Here I am, being a caring and kind husband, coming home and not staying out too late and you call me a wimp,”

Zoro couldn’t help but laugh at Usopp; while Kaya was a sweet and innocent soul, she could be savage when she wanted to be. Usopp unlocked the SUV and they both scrambled into the vehicle. “Okay well, I’m gonna let you go cause I’m driving and that’s against the law. I’ll see you at home, love you,” Usopp hung up and stuck the key in the ignition.

“Dude, I love how ruthless Kaya is with you,” Zoro commented as they reversed out of their spot and drove out into the street.

“Yeah, she can handle some quality banter. It actually makes me love her more, you know?” Usopp replied fondly.

“Almost makes me jealous,” Zoro commented bitterly.

“You know, you can have that too if you just... oh jeez, I don’t know, tell Sanji how you feel,” Usopp turned his head slightly to see Zoro giving him a dull glare. Ussop couldn’t help but laugh; riling Zoro up is his favourite past time.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

The meeting with Smoker was actually okay. He was happy with the work they were doing on the case, even with getting Moria Gecko as a potential lead. The only thing Zoro couldn’t understand was why Smoker needed to have his meetings at six in the morning. Why not nine? Or noon? He shrugged and placed himself at his desk, looking over Diamante’s file.

 

“So this asshole set up a child sex ring with one of the biggest donator’s in cancer research?” Zoro asked rhetorically.

“There were rumours going around about Moria since that girl spoke out against him. No one wants to believe it but the facts are there,” Usopp replied, placing a large coffee cup on Zoro’s desk.

“Wait, what?” Zoro blinked.

“Oh yeah, you might not have been in town. Yeah, some girl spoke out about Moria locking her in an office with him and tried to get her to have sex with him. It was all hearsay but more people came out and spoke about it. It basically nearly destroyed his career but then, all of a sudden, everyone just stopped talking about it like all together,” Usopp explained.

“That’s pretty weird,” Zoro stated, looking over Moria’s file.

“Tell me about it, no one could get any dirt on him so he’s a free man,”

“And still practising medicine it seems, he’s currently the owner of East Blue Hospital,” Zoro turned his screen towards Usopp.

“We’ll get Johnny to book us an interview with him. I can’t imagine he’d be easy to get an interview with,” Usopp said, getting out a new file. “This is the autopsy report from Laurel Peakes and Diamante, both were found with Tamazepan in their system,”

 

“Sleeping pills?” Zoro looked up at Usopp confused, grabbing the file. “The first victim and Diamante didn’t really have any post-mortem injuries but Laurel had lacerations,”

“And Sarah had stab wounds. I think our killer changed motives after Diamante,” Usopp concluded. “So maybe our killer was affiliated with Doflamingo’s gang,”

“Then we’ll need a list of everyone involved in that gang, even the one’s in witness protection,” Zoro said, putting away the Diamante file.

“I’ll relay a message to Johnny about getting those list,” Usopp replied.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Smoker walked out of his office at eight-thirty, walking toward Usopp’s desk.

“I need you two in my office now,” he requested in a hushed tone.

Zoro and Usopp looked at each other quizzically before following him to the office, locking the door behind him. They just had a meeting with him two hours ago, what could’ve happened since then?

“Uh... what’s up chief?” Usopp asked.

“A girl disappeared late last night and I have reason to believe she is the next victim,” Smoker replied bluntly. “Her roommate filed a missing person’s when she didn’t come home the next day,”

“Do we have a name?” Zoro asked.

“Laki Somers, she’s fine arts student at East Blue University,” Smoker said, sliding her photo across the desk.

“She does kind of look like Laurel Peakes, with the dark hair and all,” Usopp commented.

 

Zoro examined the photo and nodded. She didn’t look like someone who would end up on the wrong side of the tracks. “What makes you think she’s apart of our case?”

“At twelve-ten, she messaged her roommate that she would be home soon and told her boyfriend that she would see him tomorrow. Her roommate said it wasn’t in her personality to go against her word and when we sent an officer down to retrace her steps, we found a bloodied jumper and some of her hair at the scene,” Smoker sighed gravely.

“Where was she last scene?” Zoro asked impulsively.

“Leaving her boyfriend’s apartment, he lives down by Skypiea Fountains,” Smoker replied, pulling a cigar out of his desk drawer and lighting it.

“We’ll go question him and the roommate, see if we can get any leads,” Zoro said, getting up out of his chair and following Usopp out of his office.

“Before you two go,” Smoker called out, causing Zoro and Usopp to halt their movements. “I want you to understand that what I told you doesn’t leave this room. It’s bad enough the media is already calling the unsub ‘The Blue Slasher’”

“Understood Chief,” Zoro saluted, before the detectives made their way out of Smoker’s office.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Before Zoro and Usopp went and interviewed Laki’s boyfriend, they decided to visit the crime scene. Thankfully there was still police tape up and they hadn’t cleaned up the blood yet. Their were a couple of officers still on scene, taking questions from the media and combing the place to see if anymore clues could be found.

 

Zoro stood at the blood splat. “So say I’m Laki-“

“You’re a little too manly to be Laki,” Usopp joked.

“I’d make a sexy girl and you know it. Now, I just left my boyfriend’s place-“

“-You wish,”

“... and I take this shortcut, one I’ve taken a hundred times. How do I get distracted and not notice someone behind me?” Zoro asked.

Usopp was standing back where one of the dumpsters was a good couple of metres back. “Headphones were found at the end of this alley, maybe she didn’t hear our unsub?”

“But she would be able to see them out of the corner of her eye, did we end up finding her phone?” Zoro looked back down at the bloodstain.

“We did find out that her boyfriend was her last point of contact,” Usopp said, walking toward Zoro. “So she’s messaging her boyfriend, headphones in and our unsub comes behind her and-” Usopp trails off, holding an imaginary weapon and swinging it slowly at Zoro’s head. “I definitely hit you hard with a solid object,”

“Not a bat, this splatter looks like it was sliced from her neck. The blood isn’t oxygenated, but it’s not a knife either cause here-“ Zoro points to a big, concentrated blood spot. “- is where her head impacted on the ground,”

 

Usopp followed where Zoro’s finger was pointing and examined it. “But our last victim had a blood trail, where’s hers?”

 

Zoro felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end and turned his head toward the end of the street, seeing a man with a dark hoodie and jeans and his face covered in bandages, resting against the wall just outside of where the police tape ends. Zoro squinted a bit at the man before seeing him flee. Zoro pulled out his gun and bolted after the man, ignoring Usopp yelling after him. He watched the hooded felon turn the corner and ran after him at full bolt. “Freeze! EBPD!” He called out as the suspected unsub ran toward the wired fence, jumping it with ease and running into the water reserve.

 

Zoro hopped over the fence like it was part of his gym routine and continued mowing down their unsub, who looked like they were slowly running out of breath. Before Zoro could speed up and tackle them to the ground, the unsub spun around, holding a pistol and fired at Zoro twice.

 

The first shot brushed past Zoro’s ear but the second impacted his shoulder, causing pain to shoot through his entire left side. Zoro collapsed on the ground, gripping his shoulder tightly and wincing in pain as he watched in frustration as their suspect got away.

 

_TBC_

 

  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://sanjitrash.tumblr.com/  
> ^_^ come say hi and send me prompts, I get bored and lonely.
> 
> But anyway, leave a comment and a kudos for support, means a lot
> 
> If you need me I'll be in my trash can 
> 
> Lots of love,  
> ST<3


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoro meets his dad and boy is Mihawk pissed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey guys~~~
> 
> How you going? Well?   
> I hope so cause I sure as hell ain't at the moment but I'm getting there. Just something happened at work and long story short, I have a huge meeting with HR on Monday. Yay for me!
> 
> Anyway, here is my latest chapter and I hope you enjoy it! Sorry if the ending is a little shit, I'm writing this pretty late. I'll edit it tomorrow
> 
> But here it is,
> 
> Lots of Love,  
> ST <3

“I told you! I do not need a hospital!” Zoro emphasised frustratingly.

“You got shot! You’re getting it looked at!” Usopp yelled back, gesturing furiously at Zoro’s shoulder, currently being stitched up by the more than helpful paramedic. “Don’t be an asshole about this!”

“I got shot at! The bullet just grazed me!” Zoro shouted, trying not to move his arm too much for the very kind paramedic doing his stitches. “It’s just a scratch!’”

“Are you fuckin-“

“If I may interject,” the paramedic said, causing Zoro and Usopp to stop their bickering. “I’ve sewn his wound shut and it doesn’t seem like it will reopen, as long as Zoro here doesn’t put too much strain on it,”

“See I told you long n-“

“However,” the paramedic continued. “When you get these stitched taken out in a couple of weeks, you’re doctor will have to give you a quick check up. Just to make sure the bullet hasn’t damaged any tendons or ligaments upon exiting,”

 

Usopp grinned down smugly at Zoro, who flipped him off with his good arm. As paramedic finished up on Zoro’s arm, a black SUV with the police department initials on the side in white, block letter writing. The detective’s faces went grim as they saw their chief exit the vehicle in haste and marched toward them.

“So funny thing,” Smoker started. “I was just in a meeting with the mayor, telling him how well this case was being handled and how amazing my two lead detectives are doing,”

Zoro’s stomach was doing violent summersaults while Usopp’s face was as white as a sheet.

“Only to be interrupted by Johnny, ringing to tell me that an ambulance has been called to our latest crime scene,” Smoker was still speaking in an eerily calm tone, and that only terrified Zoro even more. “And to follow that, I ended up with thousands of different media outlets calling me and leaving messages, asking for my thoughts on the detective that got shot chasing down a suspect,”

Zoro felt his throat go dry and he tried to swallow his fear down.

“So I just have one question,” he took a deep drag of his cigar and glared down at the two detectives cowering the ambulance. “WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED?”

“I’m sorry sir...” Zoro mumbled his apology as the paramedic packed up his kit. “My gut told me something was up with him and when I locked eyes with him, he bolted,” he tried to explain himself but Smoker’s stern, hard stare told Zoro that his account didn’t phase his anger.

“You can’t play hero kid, what you did was reckless and stupid,” Smoker lectured, jabbing his finger into Zoro’s chest. “Stunts like that is how good detectives go down; think through your actions before you act on them or the next time an ambulance comes, it’ll be putting you in a body bag,”

 

Zoro stared down at his feet, feeling the guilt and regret seep up through his body. Usopp sat up and pushed himself off the side of the ambulance, arms still folded across his chest. “The worst part about it, we couldn’t even see his face. It was covered in bandages,”

Smoker sighed and looked down at the two detectives. “Look Zoro, I get your intentions is ‘apprehend the bad guy as fast as possible’ but with a case like this, you got to watch where you tread. If our unsub is toying with us, don’t let him in your head,”

 

Zoro stood up finally, pulling his button up back over his shoulder and walked toward Smoker. “Just so you know kid, I’m giving you the rest of the day off,”

“WHAT?”

“You got shot at and now I have to make attend an important press conference to clear your dumbass name,” Smoker countered, causing Zoro to pull his mouth shut. “Now go home, pet a dog or something. I don’t want to see you back in my precinct until Monday,”

 

As Zoro was about to counter argue his point, Usopp interrupted by grabbing Zoro by the shoulders and guiding him toward their patrol car. “Thank you chief, I’ll drop him off home and I’ll see you back at the precinct,” he called out to Smoker as he all but shoved Zoro into the front seat and getting in on the other side.

“What the hell was-“

“Just shut up for like five minutes! Can’t you see Smoker is giving you an out of this press conference?” Usopp snapped. Zoro was taken aback. He’d only see Usopp lose his cool... almost never in his life.

Zoro took a moment to realise that his partner was right. He would’ve been eaten alive by the media circus that was waiting for him. While the water reserve was a kind of isolated place, it did back onto the ground of an elementary school. They must’ve heard the gunshot, reported to police and the media and tabloids must have picked up on it. And if Zoro were at that press conference, they would try to completely tarnish the name of the East Blue Police Department by calling Zoro’s actions ‘reckless and impulsive’, making it seem that was hugely underqualified for his job. As much as he hated it, he had to owe Smoker one.

 

Zoro sighed in defeat. “Look, I’m sorry. I just... saw an opportunity and I took it. I thought we could’ve had custody of the potential killer but instead he got away and I made the precinct look bad,”

“Hey it’s fine,” Usopp soothed, turning the patrol car into the very familiar parking space. “I know your intentions mean well but Smoker’s right, you got to keep a level head. Now let’s go get some lunch cause I know how you get when you’re hungry,”

 

Zoro grumbled as he stumbled out of the patrol car, noticing that once again Usopp had tricked him into taking him out for lunch at the obnoxious, teal and blue café.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Where the pair was sitting, Zoro could see that Sanji’s café must’ve been in the middle of rush hour. He watched waitresses and baristas making coffee at an alarmingly speedy and steady pace. He could hear Sanji barking orders from the kitchen about food presentation and delivery time and weirdly enough, it looked like everything was running smoothly. Sure they were working fast, but it didn’t look like they had any pressure on them.

 

A young, blonde waitress placed their coffees in front of them and bounced off back to waiting tables. “How’s the shoulder?”

“Sore, but fine,” Zoro took a sip of his long black. “It more or less burns now then stings but I think that’s just the antibiotics,”

“Okay,” Usopp sighed in relief. “I’m not gonna lie, you gave me a heart attack when you ran off,”

Zoro huffed and rolled his eyes. “How many times do I have to say I’m sorry?”

“What are you sorry for Marimo?” Interrupted Sanji, stopping by their table and causing Zoro to nearly jump out of his seat.

“He’s sorry that he’s an idiot,” Usopp replied, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms.

Sanji just rolled his eyes. “Typical,”

“Why are you annoying us anyway? Don’t you have a café to run?” Zoro asked rudely, causing Usopp to kick his shin harshly.

“This is fine, you should see Sunday lunch time,” Sanji scoffed. “This is an easy day for us,”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Usopp replied, taking a sip from his latte. “You coming to Franky and Robin’s house warming next week?”

“Coming? All Blue is catering for it,” Sanji laughed. “Will I see your ugly mug there, marimo?” he asked sweetly.

Zoro just scoffed and folded his arms. “Only to make fun of your cooking,”

“Why do I even bother with you?” Sanji huffed before marching back to the kitchen.

“Nice one asshole,” Usopp jabbed.

“What? He jabs, I jab back. We’ve been that way since we were kids,” Zoro shrugged.

“Yeah, massive emphasis on the ‘kids’ part,” Usopp pointed out. “Come on, you’re both adults now, just try and be civil. And who knows, maybe if you’re nice enough, he might suck your co-“

Zoro kicked Usopp’s shin with an incredible force, causing the long nosed man to let out a pained groan.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Zoro stirred awake from his nap on his couch and checked his phone, two-thirty. He unlocked his phone, searching his contacts until he found ‘Mihawk’, dialling the number with instant regret. _“_ Hello? _”_ the dark voice asked.

“Hey dad... it’s Zoro,” he replied bashfully.

 _“_ Oh, so you do exist?” he replied sarcastically. “And here I thought my own son had abandoned me to live and die alone,”

“You are so over dramatic, you do know you have a daughter as well?” Zoro groaned, rolling his eyes and shifting himself off the couch.

“Yes, but she at least comes and checks up on me on her own time and not when she’s hurt herself,” Mihawk replied bluntly.

Zoro sighed heavily, scratching the back of his neck “Anyway, you home?”

“Almost always,” came the blunt and dead answer. Great, now Zoro knew he was in trouble.

“Mind if I come over and visit?” Zoro asked hastily. The line was silent for a minute and there was a part of Zoro’s brain that thought his dad was going to decide against it.

“You hurt yourself again, didn’t you?” he asked sternly.

“Uh... Well, you se-“

“I don’t want to hear it, just hurry up and get your dumb ass here so I can lecture you in person,” Mihawk demanded before hanging up abruptly, causing Zoro to remember why he doesn’t call his father as much anymore.

 

Zoro went and threw on a loose hoodie with his jeans and combat boots, grabbing his helmet and keys for his Ducati and making his way to the outskirts of the East Blue district, watching the city streets turn to dirt road and starkness and made his way to his childhood home; lovingly nicknamed ‘The Gloom House’ by all of his dear friends.

 

It was an old-style mansion that looks like it was straight out of a horror movie. The house sat at three stories high, bay windows on each side of the front door, a huge front porch built with dark timber, painted a dark grey colour and almost always accompanied by a light fog masking the front lawn. Home sweet home.

 

Zoro drove up the long, dirt driveway, parking his bike next to the navy Rolls Royce that didn’t look like it had been used in a while. He took off his helmet, walking his way up to the door and hesitating slightly before knocking. Zoro looked up slightly, noticing the new security camera that was placed into the far corner of the awning ceiling, looking right at him. “Dad, come on. You know I’m here,” he complained.

 

“Do I really?” came the rattly voice from the newly installed intercom sitting next to the door handle, causing Zoro to yelp in surprise. “How do I know you’re not one of those Mormons telling me if I’ve heard the good news?”

 

Zoro let out a long groan and rested his forehead against the front door, wondering why in the hell he thought this was a good idea. “Just let me in Dad,” Zoro waited for what felt like forever until he heard the sound of the locks clicking and the door leaving his forehead. He looked up and saw his dad, with the same blank and disappointed look on his face that he held every time Zoro did something stupid and wearing a white, frilly shirt and tight, black jeans. It never failed to make Zoro feel unpleasant.

 

“Come into the kitchen,” Mihawk said, letting Zoro into the house. “We can talk there,” Zoro impishly followed his ever over-melodramatic father through the living room, where photos of him and Perona through the years were hung above the fireplace and made his way to the kitchen island, pulling out a stool and watching his dad get out two mugs. “Green tea?”

 

“Please,” Zoro replied, resting his chin in his hand and placing his helmet on the island.

 

“So what part of your body has been mangled today?” Mihawk asked, turning the kettle on and grabbing the green tea leaves and matcha powder and placing a small portion into each mug.

Zoro sighed in defeat. “My shoulder got stitched up this morning...” the hand his chin was resting in moved to the back of his neck and scratched sheepishly.

 

Mihawk was quiet for a while, moving to grab the kettle and pour the hot water into each mug, sliding Zoro one and taking a long sip of his. He stared Zoro down with his trademark blank and intense look. “You were the cop that got shot at the water reserve, weren’t you?”

Zoro took a long drink from his mug and avoided his father’s stare like the plague. He could feel his face turn white and his gut do summer salts. He didn’t need to look at his father to know that his father was angry and upset with him. Zoro continued to look down at the floor. “Um... Yeah...”

 

Zoro still didn’t look up, he heard his father sigh out in frustration and walk off. He felt sick, he knew Mihawk would be angry with him but Mihawk hasn’t done his usual disappointed lecture yet. It was actually throwing him off; where did he go? Did he go out into the dojo area to scream out his frustrations about his stupid son? Did he go out into the backyard to dig his grave? Was he grabbing one of his prized swords and planning to execute-

 

Zoro’s thoughts were cut off by the feeling of something light but firm uppercutting the back of his head. “Ow! What the fu-“

“Don’t you ‘what the fuck’ me you ungrateful jackass!” Mihawk blared, jabbing the rolled up magazine he just used as a weapon into Zoro’s chest. “What the hell was going through your head?”

“Catch the criminal,” Zoro mumbled quietly, earning another whack with the magazine.

“Remember what happened last time you went to ‘catch the bad guy?’ huh?” Mihawk bored into Zoro, almost burning a hole into the young detective’s skull.

 

That struck a chord with Zoro and looked up at his father. “That was different and you know it!”

“You were in hospital for six months!” Mihawk bellowed. “Six long and terrifying months! You were pronounced dead twice!”

“I had no choice!” Zoro screamed back, standing up abruptly to get into his father’s face. “Lucci and the rest of them would’ve gotten away if I hadn’t-!”

“Your life isn’t something to be sacrificed!” Mihawk snapped, causing Zoro to step back. Zoro had seen his father furious but he was always so calm and collected when he was lecturing, but Zoro had never heard Mihawk snap at him before in pure rage. “God Zoro, you’re twenty-eight years old! You need to take some responsibility for your actions! You need to realise that there are people out there who care about you! People who would be shattered!”

 

Zoro winced at his father’s words but scoffed and rolled his eyes. “You don’t get it, my job is to protect and serve!”

“I get that part, but what isn’t a part of your job is having majority of you internal organs damaged and being left with a huge, nasty scar!” Mihawk lectured angrily. “Ending up hospitalised and on the verge of death isn’t part of it. Like how do you think I felt seeing your lifeless body attached to a machine?”

 

Zoro winced again but this time, didn’t argue back. He didn’t want to think about how upset and distraught his father was when he visited after his many surgeries. Or how Perona must’ve felt when she found out? When the accident happened, she was two days into her vacation in Japan and had to fly back straight away and then drove their dad to and from the hospital every day. Fuck, he fucked up again. He went in head first and almost hurt himself and the people around him again. He wanted to breakdown and apologise profusely to his father for being the biggest fucking idiot known to man.

 

Mihawk seemed to sense Zoro’s remorse and placed a soft hand on his shoulder, squeezing it slightly. “Come to the dojo, I think we both need to let out our frustrations. The best way we know how,”

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Zoro made it home before seven, throwing his helmet and keys on the counter and making his way to the shower; he felt like he needed one after today. He was still covered in sweat and was sporting a couple of new nicks and cuts from his spar with his dad. There was nothing like a good old-fashioned sword fight to help ease out frustrations.

 

It was their bonding activity; Mihawk introduced Zoro to the sport when he was eight years old and his teachers were complaining that he was an angry child that picked fights with anyone. At first, everyone thought it was a dumb idea to teach Zoro how to fight, especially since he was already on the verge of expulsion for starting brawls, but Mihawk reassured that his actions would change. And they did. Zoro knew when to get involved in fights and when to just let them ago, he’d also learnt to meditate and to use his bully’s strength against them. All in all, Zoro didn’t become the ‘model student’ that his school was hoping for but at least he stopped beating people up for no reason.

 

Just as he was about to get into the shower, the sound of ‘How to Save a Life’ by The Fray rang from the kitchen sink. He looked fondly at the name on the screen before answering.

“Hey Chopper,” he greeted warmly.

“Hey Zoro!” Chopper replied excitedly. “Usopp and I are down at Franky’s for drinks. Want to come join? Robin’s here too!”

He laughed softly; he hasn’t hung out with Robin in a long time. She was always a fun drinking partner. “Yeah alright, just let me shower and I’ll be down in fifteen,”

“Awesome! Try not to get lost along the way!” he slurred, hanging up before Zoro could argue that he doesn’t get lost. It’s been eight years since he was last in East Blue, there are new places he now has to remember and it’s difficult. Why cant people cut him some slack?

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

He got there in forty-five minutes, which isn’t too bad considering the streets kept changing the whole ride there. He parked his bike right at the front, carrying his helmet inside with him where he met with the usher who escorted him to where his friends were drinking.

 

From what it looked like, their table was already getting rowdy and Luffy wasn’t even there. Chopper and Usopp currently playing Titanic, while Robin watched on fondly while drinking a glass of red wine. She looked up and noticed him, giving a small wave and smiling warmly as Zoro sat down next to her.

 

“It’s nice to see you here, Mr Roronoa. It feels like it has been way to long without your company,” she greeted, sipping on her wine and looking over at Chopper; who had just poured too much soju into the shot glass, causing it to sink to the bottom of pint glass.

“NOOOOO! I KEEP LOSING!” Chopper exclaimed, standing up at the table and nearly losing balance. Usopp broke down into hysterics as Chopper had to down his fourth beer in a two hour span.

She looked back over at Zoro. “They’ve been like this all afternoon,”

“Wow, and I thought Luffy was the bad influence out of us,” Zoro chuckled lightly, waving down the waitress and ordering a beer.

“Maybe so, but you put Chopper and Usopp together and they too can be a boisterous pair,” She smiled fondly at them.

Zoro just chuckled in agreement. “Not at home with the kids tonight?”

“It’s Franky’s night off, so he’s at home with Tom and Olivia,” she replied, finishing off her wine and asking the waitress for a refill. “He thinks I should relax a little bit since I’ve been cooped up in the museum all week. So, Usopp and Chopper invited me out with them,”

Zoro chuckled again and shook his head, taking another swig of beer and turning to Usopp.

 

“So... how was the gloom house?” Usopp slurred, resting his chin in his hand to steady himself. “Did your father murder the real Zoro and you are just a clone made so we don’t ask questions?”

“No I’m not a clone, but he was close,” Zoro sighed, taking a scull from his beer. “Never seen him that pissed before, and he busted me drinking from his stash before,”

“That’s Mihawk for ya’, always full of surprises,” Usopp shrugged, drinking from his beer. “What’d he say about the stitches?”

“That I was reckless, and that I had to think about the people I have in my life before I do something that stupid again,” Zoro replied, leaning further back in his chair. “Then we had a dual and I think we’re all good now,”

“You guys have the weirdest relationship, I swear,” Usopp said, downing the last of his beer.

 

“Make sure you see me about getting your stitches out, okay?” Chopper pandered.

“Oh of course, you know I would only see the world’s greatest doctor about that,” Zoro praised.

“YOU THINK YOUR NICE WORDS HAVE ANY EFFECT ON ME, YOU SMUG BASTARD?” Chopper exclaimed with a very obvious blush plastered on his face. Chopper was always so cute when he was embarrassed, even more so when he was angry and embarrassed.

 

They continued drinking until the late hours of the night, or at least until Franky came and picked up Robin and Chopper and take them home, leaving Usopp and Zoro to an empty bar. “So, how pissed was Smoker when I left?”

“Let’s just say, he didn’t leave his office for a long time, and that there was a lot of intangible yelling,” Usopp shrugged. “To be honest, he was more annoyed at Nami during the news conference than anything. She was grilling him so hard, trying to make him say on record that you’re an idiot,”

“God she’s a sea witch,” Zoro groaned, he knew Nami going into journalism was going to in some way bite him in the ass.

“The story isn’t that bad, your name wasn’t even mentioned in it,” Usopp stated. “But...”

“But what? What happened?” Zoro questioned.

Usopp didn’t answer, instead pulled out his phone and showed Zoro the article someone had written. He scrolled down a bit, not really seeing a problem with the article, in fact it was quite flattering to him. They kept calling the unknown detective an ‘unsung hero and ‘what cops should be like’ until he noticed the problem and saw the picture attached to the article.

 

It showed Zoro, mid fall while their unsub had a gun pointed at him. “ _Well, this is bad,”_ Zoro thought. “They don’t know that’s me,” Zoro stated confidently. “It’s your stupid hair in the picture dumbshit,” Usopp pointed out the very obvious green hair in the photo.

“Okay, so? Not everyone knows it’s me. Look, this’ll all be over by tomorrow so just relax,” Zoro said, checking the time on his phone. It was close to midnight, they should probably get going. “I don’t know about you but I might head out soon,”

“Same, Kaya should be here to pick me up in ten,” Usopp replied, getting out of his seat and pulling Zoro toward the exit.

“You’re making your wife pick you up?” Zoro scoffed.

“Hey, it’s her day off tomorrow so she can sleep in,” he argued, exiting the building to see her already parked and leaning against their range rover. Usopp jogged a little up to her and kissed her chastely. “Hey there stranger, you with anyone tonight?”

“Just waiting for my husband. You might know him? He’s tall, dark, handsome... been scared of the dark since he was ten,” she joked, causing Zoro to laugh and Usopp to pout.

“Come on, not in front of Zoro,” he whined, causing Zoro to laugh harder.

She giggled in reply and kissed her husband again. “You need a ride Zoro?”

“Nah I’m all good to ride but thanks anyway!” He called back, putting his helmet on and starting the Ducati. He waved at the lovebirds before driving off home, where he was going to do nothing but sleep all weekend. That was, unless Smoker need them sooner. But he secretly hoped not.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

_Found on the outskirts of East Blue, lived a small but solid abandoned metal mill, appearing to have been uninhabited for what seemed like decades. But on the inside, there was a tired man grumbling to himself in annoyance and anger, pacing around his small office area. “That stupid Roronoa and Syrup! They’re both ruining my plan! How dare they try to intervene with my right in passage to Master Doflamingo!” he exclaimed, startling the dark haired girl who’s mascara was currently smearing her face. He kicked her cage in anger, causing her to sob loudly. “Shut up girl!” she seemed to try and hold in her sobs but her body wouldn’t let her do so._

_The man ignored her and walked out of the office area and onto the factory floor, where the machines surrounding looked like they hadn’t been operated in a long time. “I will get you two, and I will make sure I take away the thing most precious to you,” he snarled. “Like what you did to me!”_

_The man cackled maliciously, like a feral animal, his laughter echoing off the walls like thunder. “This is only the beginning!”_

_TBC_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very spoopy 
> 
> How did you like it? love it? hate it? tell me!  
> And as always please dump me in your local garbage disposal
> 
> Lots of Love,  
> ST  
> <3

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, that's like a nice introductory chapter and I'm super excited about this fic. I say that about all of them, but I am. I like creating content, even if I think it's god awful. I'm learning to not be self-critical and just start putting stuff out. But as always, I love you guys. Like, comment, subscribe, all that jazz. If you wanna follow me on tumblr and ask me stuff you can, I always need more friends. But this is my signing off, have a rad day.
> 
> Lots of Love,
> 
> ST <3


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